Spring Break Trip to Austin, Texas

On Thursday morning we went to McKinney State Park which was literally 5 minutes from our hotel in Austin. This state park is right in the middle of it all. I would love to have access to something like this here in Louisiana. This is the Upper Falls. This is how Nate hikes. It's almost like having IV fluids pushed into your system for the duration of the hike. Downfall...constant "pit" stops.

This was some of the wildlife that we saw. We saw plenty "evidence" of animals all over the trails but nothing but birds to looks at. I saw one snake but it was already slithering down the rock into the water by the time I heard the snake noise. You know, the slithering that snakes make when they are moving around in dry bush. Considering that some of our trails were surrounded by high grasses you could say I considered myself VERY lucky to only see one.

You know how much I LOVE spiders. Chris took this picture from about 10ft up and you could definitely tell it was a big one. I hate all creepy things great and small.

After our first hike we stopped off here at this little beach for lunch. It was Nate's favorite part of the whole hike. He could hardly be bothered to eat when there were so many rock to skip. He did get a 5 skipper and we think a 6 but that couldn't be verified.

Chris finally get on the OTHER side of the camera. He enjoys taking pictures so much that sometimes we go entire day w/out realizing he was always behind the camera.

We couldn't have asked a better day. It was sunny but cool. Perfect for hiking.

This is one of my favorite pics.

Chris playing around w/the camera

Nate's happy dance that we had arrived to the beach for lunch.

Getting a bit more tired.

This is the old homestead. Eventually there was a housefire and everyone moved on.

Chris and Nate

Lower Falls.

The start of the hike.

University of Texas football stadium. This was a must see on Nate's list of things to do while in Austin.

Nate decked out in his orange. I was surprised how many students actually wear school gear. Everybody was in orange while we were on campus. Campus is huge and traffic is CRAZY!! Downtown Austin is a nightmare. Typical Texas they're always doing construction work and honestly, don't people have to work. It didn't matter if it was 10am or 5pm. Still crazy.

Nate's Birthday Weekend

The whole crew. Kyle, Amy, Jackson, Mom, Francine, Kaye, Richard, Nate, and Chris. It was a house full. Look at those cheeks. Oh how I loved kissing on them. Jackson is such a happy baby. I loved having him here.

Amy, Kaye, and Nate playing on the swings. On Saturday the temps were in the 80s. By Sunday it was only in the 60s.

Richard playing ball

That's definitely a Leslie look. As a kid I always stuck my tongue out when I was concentrating on something.

Hitting the ball

Kaye throwing the ball. Definitely throw like a girl. I loved playing ball. It was so much fun and felt like a real family get together.

Kyle hitting the ball out to us. The field was anything but level and I hated getting grounders because you never knew if they were going to pop up in your face.

A big swing.

Pitcher

Play Ball!!

Nate had lit his candles and when he blew out the match he also blew out the candles. Had to redo them again.

Dallas Temple

We went to Dallas a few weeks ago and took turns going to the temple. It looks very similar to Portland which has a special place in my heart. Hard to imagine it was freezing cold that weekend and now it's getting hot and humid.

Student of the Week

I am SO behind the times here. This was several weeks ago but oh well. Congratulations Nate.

Must go. Anyone interested

Never been opened

Background stamp

Sayings

Borders, shadow

Stars

Scissors

Lot of inks.

Matching Pens

Never been open inks

Chalks and stamp cleaning pad w/solution

Creative Memories cutting system. You get circle, oval, and borders. Includes blades, mat, corner rounder, and Square cut outs. The whole thing is only $35.00

I am selling all my stuff. Let me know if you're interested in any of it. I'm thinking a one week time frame and then it's all going to ebay.

Snow Day Feb 4, 2011

Honestly, I didn't think we were going to get ANYTHING. They had canceled school by 5pm. Seemed a bit early to me since there wasn't anything that actually fell from the sky until about midnight. Chris kept getting phone calls from work. 3:56am, 3:58am, 6:28am, 7:32am, 9:00am, etc...To say that we got to sleep in would be an exaggeration. We did sleep in but we rarely slept.
This is actually our neighbors house but I wasn't interested in putting on shoes, jacket, etc. to go outside.

This is Nate's "snow" fort. I use the term loosely. I kept telling him it looked more like a coffin.

Nate kept begging to go outside. I decided to stretch my legs and shoveled the entire driveway, walkway, and sideway. It paid off. We are the only one in the neighborhood who has a dry driveway. Everyone else has a sheet of ice.

So this is him lying in his "coffin". We're a bit morbid over here.

Snow Angel. Nate is still a kid. Loves to play in the snow. Me? Not interested. I only wish it was safe to drive around town. I'm not going to test fate to see how the locals do with driving in this mess.